Tick
by Extra Lives
Summary: Cloud can stop time. He discovers this unexpected talent when he disobeys his abusive, alcoholic father. Vowing never to go home again, he heads towards the city of Midgar, ready to start his life anew. After all, who can stop someone who can stop time?
1. Chapter 1

**Well, here goes for the first chapter! Lemme know what you think!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII, or any of the characters!**

**--**

The first time was like this.

I was at home, laying on the top bunk of my bunk-bed, reading a book. It wasn't anything for school, just a used book I picked up from the store on the way home. It was some fantasy setting where a peasant found out he could use magic, and he ended up saving the world. It was decent, but not amazing.

I was almost done with the chapter when I heard the garage door open downstairs. _Shit_. I hadn't raked the leaves outside.

"Cloud!" I heard my dad yell; he was drunk. I scrambled out of my bed and jumped to the floor, quickly opening the door as I heard my father's clunky feet clamber up the stairs. "Why the _fuck _aren't the leaves raked? And where's dinner?"

I could smell the alcohol on his breath, and I instinctively recoiled to get away from the stench. He grabbed my collar and yanked me forward. "Answer me, boy!" Then he threw me back, where I collided with the all, busting my head on a nail that was left out from an old picture that must have fallen.

Pain exploded in my head, and I saw stars, but I kept myself from crying out. "Sorry dad! I'll do it right now!"

"I don't think so. You know I like dinner ready when I get home," He growled, beginning to unbuckle his belt.

"Dad! You promised no more belt!" I cried out now. I was scared. Whenever I disobeyed my dad's rules when he was drunk, he would whip me with the buckle of his belt, hard.

My dad grunted but didn't voice a response, merely grabbing me to turn me around. I don't think he cared about the blood that flowed from my new cut in my head. I heard the belt clang as he pulled his arm back, and I shut my eyes, bracing myself for the pain.

The pain never came, and soon everything was silent. I cracked open an eye, afraid my dad hit me so hard I was dead.

Nope, still in the hallway of my house. I turned around slowly, and that's when I yelped in surprise.

My dad was there, frozen in midswing. The belt hung in the air, not moving, completely ignoring the laws of gravity. The snarl on my dad's face was now permanent and easy to see, and it made me mad. I was tempted to just grab him and shove his immovable body down the stairs, but I didn't.

I stepped slowly around him, still dazed by what was going on. When I was sure that he definitely wasn't moving, I turned my back to him and hurried down the stairs to the bathroom. I needed to find something to stem the bleeding.

The first thing I did was grab a washcloth hanging from a rack near the shower, and pressed it against the back of my head. I winced, but kept pushing. I was afraid to pull away the towel, so I didn't; I just worked one handed.

I opened the medicine cabinet and rifled around, trying to find if we had any hydrogen peroxide. I found a small bottle, almost empty. I hoped it would be enough. I removed the towel and glanced at it. It was a dark red, and I screwed my eyes up so I wouldn't faint. I was always squeamish.

I threw the towel into the bath and grabbed a new one, dumping some hydrogen peroxide on it. After I applied it to the towel, I gently touched the back of my head. I cried out in pain, but soon enough I controlled myself, gently rubbing around to make sure the wound was clean. For all I knew the nail was rusty, and my dad didn't care enough to get me a Tetanus vaccination.

Once it was completely clean, I grabbed another towel and wrapped it around my head; the bleeding hadn't stopped yet and I didn't want to walk around with blood flowing down my back. Eventually I had my bandage all made up.

"What the _fuck_!" I heard my dad yell from the top of the stairs. "Where the hell did you go?"

I froze. What happened? I wasn't sure. One moment my dad was frozen, and now he was moving again, yelling. I was afraid. The beating I would get now would be even worse than the one I was about to get earlier.

I tried to quietly open the door to the bathroom, but it creaked. Loudly.

"You little _fucker_," my dad snarled as he glared down the stairs at me. He had the belt in his hand; now it was hanging loosely towards the ground, obeying the laws of physics.

"I didn't do anything! Honest!" I tried to protest, but I knew it was no use.

My dad came down the stairs, slowly but deliberately. He raised the belt again, and I shut my eyes, trying to make him freeze.

I ducked out of the way just in case, and I'm glad I did. Time continued on as normal and the belt crashed against the ground, nicking the wood floor.

I tried clearing my head; my thoughts were so focused on one thing last time that may have did it. I tried to be as zen as possible with my dad about to beat me to a pulp.

It worked. Time froze again, and my dad stood still, crouched over, belt against the ground, bouncing upwards slightly, defying gravity.

I was still a little freaked that I could actually stop time, but now wasn't the time to dwell on that. It was time.

I had contemplated running away from home for a while, but there was never a good opportunity _and _I was always a little afraid of the unknown and a little hopeful of my dad maybe turning around. Well, I knew now that my dad would never get sober, and since I could apparently stop time, why be afraid of the unknown?

I jogged up the stairs to my room; I needed to pack a few essentials. I dug through my drawers and fished out two pairs of jeans and four t-shirts. That would have to do. I also grabbed a picture of my mom off my dresser and stuffed it in the small duffel bag I procured from underneath my bed.

I checked my wallet in my back pocket. Only thirty-five dollars. _Damn, _I thought. I would need more than that. There was one thing I could do, but it would mean digging through my frozen dad's pockets.

Fun.

I walked down the stairs slowly this time, afraid that time would resume any minute.

I made it to my dad without any trouble. His face was still frozen with the same angry expression, and the belt was still hovering over the ground.

I dug into my dad's back pocket, feeling for a wallet. I felt a little dirty, and disgusted. It had to be done though. After about three seconds (though it felt like an hour) I grabbed the leather wallet and pulled it out and opened it.

Inside there was a credit card (that was out of the picture; my dad would be able to trace me), and a couple twenties. I wondered if that would be enough to cover a bus ticket. I felt around a little more, and I found a hidden compartment, containing a small wad of hundred dollar bills.

There were twenty of them.

I couldn't help but let a small growl escape my lips. That son of a bitch. I wore second hand clothes and had to scrape together lunch money from change in the couch, _and _I was forced to do chores for no pay, and my dad had _this _stuffed away. I took it all and placed it into my own wallet.

I didn't bother putting my dad's own wallet back, instead, putting it on the floor in front of him. Good, make him wonder.

I hoisted the duffel bag off the wood floor and tucked it over my shoulder before giving my dad a half-hearted mock wave and exiting out the front door, just a few feet away from the stairs.

When I stepped outside I stopped in shock. There were cars in the street, two kids tossing a ball across the street, and a lady walking her dog directly in front of my house. Everything was frozen solid.

I shook my head, my blonde hair falling in front of my face. I brushed it aside and began to walk towards the nearest bus station I knew, a mile and a half away.

I could have taken my dad's car, but I didn't want to deal with him calling the police and them finding it at the bus station. It wouldn't be too hard to ask around for which ticket a boy with hair like a chocobo bought.

So I walked. Leisurely, too. I had to admit, it was nice walking with everything completely silent.

About halfway to the bus station I became thirsty and a little hungry, so I stepped into the nearest gas station. Again, everyone was frozen. Although I saw everything outside, it was still a little disconcerting to see an exchange going on, money frozen as it passed hands.

Thinking about it, I realized I could easily take all the money from the register and pocket it, and walk out without anyone the wiser.

I could be the world's greatest thief. Unless of course, other people could stop time, which was something I thought about a lot during that walk.

I didn't take the money though. Instead, I merely took a bottle of Dr. Pepper and a donut from the plastic case where you could buy them individually, and strolled out.

As the door opened for me, time began to resume, and everything went down the shitter in one instant.

**--**

**Ooh, a cliffie on the first chapter; boy am I daring!**

**If you wanna see more, review :D**

**-Extra Lives**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you everyone who reviewed last chapter (all four of you!) It means a lot, and it keeps me writing!**

**So . . . here's the next chapter! If anyone has any ideas or constructive criticism, please, throw 'em at me! I do have a plotline already for this that I won't change, but if I can work some of your ideas in I'd be more than happy to do so!**

**I don't own FFVII (unfortunately)**

**Enjoy!**

**--**

When the doors opened, I don't know how, but time resumed. The cashier looked at me, shocked, before yelling, "Hey! You gotta pay for that!"

Not knowing what to do, I bolted. Not concerned with I was going, I ended up straight in the middle of the street. I heard a loud honk and the screeching of tires. I turned towards the source of the sound, shutting my eyes and holding out my hands to protect myself from the oncoming ton of metal (in hindsight, this really wouldn't have done anything, but it was a reflex).

I never got hit. Cracking an eye open, I saw that the car was frozen in place, as was everything, and everyone, around me. Slowly turning back towards the gas station, I saw the cashier on the phone, still behind the counter. The doors were still open. He was probably calling 911. _Shit_.

After standing still for a few moments to let my heart rate go back to normal, I began to walk, and as I walked, I thought. What exactly could I do? I knew I could stop time (though at that point, I was still in disbelief), but I couldn't exactly control it. I stopped time when I was in danger, but I turned it back on accidentally when opening the gas station doors. But they were open when I walked into the gas station . . . did I somehow resume time while I was picking out my drink? That was certainly a possibility. Actually, it was the only possibility. Unless . . .

As my mind began to form speculation on how time resumed, I began to wonder: were there other people who could stop time? Could my dad stop time? I stopped. My heart rate picked up again. _Shit, shit, shit_. If my dad could stop time, it didn't matter how far I ran, my dad would eventually catch up to me.

But wait, if he could stop time wouldn't he have done so to catch me when I froze it earlier before he beat me? And on numerous occasions I've been threatened for no reason other than my dad was running late for an appointment. If my dad could stop time, being late would never be a problem. I breathed deeply. Okay, so clearly my dad wasn't able to stop time. That was a good thing.

What about my mom though? She couldn't have been able to stop time; she was killed in a drunk driving accident. If she would've stopped time, she would have been able to to stop the accident from occurring.

I ended up at the bus station soon enough, and it brought me back to reality. It was still a little jarring to see people frozen in midstride, but I was slowly getting used to it. Slowly.

Time to make things move again.

I merely thought about time resuming, and it did. People continued to move about their daily lives, completely oblivious of the blonde kid who magically appeared before their eyes. I tried to act casual as I approached the ticket counter, thought I was sure that at any moment somebody would pop out and say, "Oh hey, didn't see you there a second ago, where'd you come from?"

I silently vowed to myself to now only start time when I was in a secluded place where no one could see me. I couldn't promise that for stopping time, because I've already had to stop it multiple times in plain sight.

There was a short line for the tickets, and as I waited, I became more and more fidgety. My dad, as well as the gas station cashier, surely had called the police by now. But maybe the police would think they were crazy. Well, at least my dad; Of course they would, who would believe a drunk dad who claimed his son could just disappear?

"Excuse me, sir. Can I help you?" A gentle voice asked. It sounded strangely familiar.

"Huh?" I looked up, unaware of my surroundings. Apparently while thinking I had subconsciously moved myself forward in line, and now and I was at the counter, face to face with none other than Tifa Lockhart.

"Cloud?" she asked, confused. "What are you doing here?"

I could feel my cheeks getting hot. I didn't want anyone that I knew running into me and now I was staring straight into the wine-colored eyes of Tifa.

Trying to play off her comment, I said, "I c-could ask the same of you." My stutter gave me away.

Tifa's face instantly grew concerned. "Are you okay, Cloud? Did something happen at home?" She saw right through me.

I tried to ignore her. "Can I please purchase one ticket to Midgar?"

Tifa pushed for an answer, ignoring me. "Cloud, just tell me what's up. I can – "

"Can you just sell me the ticket!" I shouted, then winced when I saw people staring at me. "Sorry, I just . . . I just need the ticket."

"That'll be one-hundred and thirty-four dollars and seventy-nine cents," she said quietly. I think she was hurt by my yelling. I didn't say anything though. Thankfully she didn't question me when I put down a hundred. Before she gave me my receipt, she scribbled something on it. "That's my number," she said, tucking a strand of chocolate colored hair behind her ear. "If you need anything, just let me know."

"Thanks," I said, hoping I sounded as sincere as I felt.

After sitting down, I checked my ticket. It told me the bus would arrive at 4:30. Taking a glance at the clock hung over the small station, I realized that would be in forty-five minutes.

Great; forty five minutes of anxiety. Fun. Hm . . . what could I do to waste time? Well, I could see exactly what my power enabled me to do. I thought about time freezing, and it did (I would later learn the term "shifting" from a friend) and began to look around.

If I touched or moved something while frozen, would time resume? I pulled someone's bag off their bench to test it. Nope; everything was still stuck in place.

So if I could manipulate things when time stopped, how did the doors to the gas station open?

After sitting back down and letting time return to its normal state, I began to devise an answer to my question. Was it because I touched the back myself, and it wasn't really alive or capable of moving on its own like me? Could I move people without them knowing?

Ugh, too many questions. Maybe there was a scanner that allowed the automatic doors to open, and it caused time to resume? Did that mean if I activated any alarms or automated devices anywhere time would resume? It was all so complicated, and all this worrying was making my head hurt. And it was making me have to pee.

Slinging my duffel bag over my right shoulder, I hurried to the bathroom, looking at the clock again on the way. I had four minutes before the bus would arrive. More than enough time.

Walking into the bathroom, I heard some banging in one of the stalls, but I figured it was just some dickhead spraying graffiti so I ignored it and went straight to the nearest urinal.

Mid-pee I heard a cry coming from the urinal, and I froze. It was a girls voice that cried out. And it wasn't in pleasure. Crap.

I hastily zipped my pants up and threw my bag down, hoping to make enough noise to draw whoever it was in the stall out. I heard a grunt and then another cry, but I was ignored.

Heart beating faster and faster, I stammered, "Hey. Leave her alone."

There was a loud bang and the stall door slammed open, crashing against the wall, and out stepped a guy who was a good head taller than me, and ripped. "What the fuck do you want, punk?" he asked, cracking his knuckles.

He took a step towards me. I took a step back. "Leave her alone," I repeated, this time a little more forcefully.

It was time to see how good I was at controlling time. I shifted, and the thug stopped moving. I stepped around him and into the stall. Inside sat a pretty brunette wearing a sundress. How old-fashioned.

None of her clothes were off, so I hoped that meant the guy didn't get too far. I hoisted (well attempted) her up bridal style, but I quickly learned that a human stuck in the fetal position was as easy to lift as a bag of rocks. I shifted back into normal time in order to adjust. She wrapped her arms around my neck, and as soon as I had a good hold, and in time to hear the thug yell, I shifted. Everything went quiet.

I walked out of the bathroom and looked around. Thankfully what looked like the bus to Midgar had just pulled up. The doors were open and people already piling in. It would be a great place to escape.

It was tough, but I maneuvered around the line without knocking into anyone too badly. Hopefully nobody would take a tumble when time resumed.

"Why isn't anyone moving?" a quiet voice asked, completely freaking me out. I jumped and heard a squealing beneath me. I looked down. It was the brunette. She was moving normally, and she looked up at me with some of the most brilliant emerald eyes I had ever seen.

"Well, that answers one question," I muttered under my breath before stepping onto the bus, ignoring the girl for now, despite her quiet protests.

I saved her from rape, the least she could do was be patient for thirty seconds.

--

**So there's the good ol' aloof Cloud from the beginning of FFVII at the very end of the chapter (last line).**

**I'm aiming for a once a week update of this, whaddya think? **

**Reviews could always make me go faster :P**

**-Extra Lives**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you everyone who reviewed! I really appreciate it. They motivate me :D  
**

**So, I've come up with a schedule for posting a new chapter. Every Sunday . . . how does that sound? I usually have the chapter written beforehand, but I don't wanna get ahead of myself. So sorry if you don't wanna wait :P**

**Anyway, enough of my rambling, on with the show!**

**And of course, I don't own Final Fantasy VII.**

**--  
**

I placed the girl in an empty seat, sat down next to her, and resumed time. I breathed deeply. I was sincerely beginning to believe I was on an acid trip. None of this made sense . . . why me? Am I even human?

I glanced over at the girl. Her eyes were shut tight and her hands were trembling. My guess was that she was in post-traumatic shock. The same thing happened to me the first time my dad beat me.

"Hey," I said, placing a hand on her leg to calm her. Wrong move. She jumped up at my action. I withdrew my hand before speaking again. "Are you okay?"

The girl looked up and a faint smile appeared on her porcelain face. "I will be, thanks to you. Who are you?"

My brain frantically worked when she asked that question. Should I give her a fake name? If I gave her the real one would she try and contact the cops?

"I'm Cloud," I said before I made up my mind completely. "You?" I brought my knees up to my chest and rested my chin on them. I was surprisingly tired, something I hadn't noticed before now.

"Aerith," she said. She seemed to have the same idea as me: don't give out your full name. Though considering how unique our names were, I doubt it would have made much of a difference if we added a last name. "You look young to be going on a bus by yourself."

"I'm sixteen," I said defensively. I didn't want Aerith judging me based on my age; I hated it when people treated me like a kid.

Aerith laughed a beautiful, quiet yet full laugh. It was nice to hear coming from her, just trembling moments before. Hopefully that meant I was distracting her from her recent experience. "Don't worry, I'm only eighteen." She too pulled her legs up onto the seat, only curling them under her instead of resting her head on them like me. "So was I hallucinating, or were those people really not moving?" she asked.

I took a look out the bus window. We had started to move. I guess the driver didn't bother to look at the tickets. Oh well, a waste of a hundred bucks then, but it saved Aerith from some trouble. "You know this bus goes to Midgar?" I questioned, ignoring her question.

"Yes," I heard her say, but I didn't look back. I was still taking in the sights, if you can call a small town sights. Well it was home, I was about to be leaving it. I was feeling a little sentimental. "I saw the sign on the bus."

"You're okay with that?"

"I don't really have a choice."

I instantly felt guilty for bringing her onto the bus. Couldn't I have dropped her off at the police station instead of making her come along? It's not like I didn't have the time to do that.

My guilty conscious was telling me to answer her question. I sighed. This would be weird, trying to describe it. I took another deep breath.

"Okay, so about the people frozen in place." I tried to speak quietly so no one else on the bus would hear me. Everyone around the two of us seemed to be busy with other tasks, the last thing on their list of things to do was hopefully listen to two teenagers.

"No, you weren't hallucinating. Well, you might be, but if you are, then I'm absolutely insane."

Aerith looked confused. I continued. "Look, I can stop time," I said slowly, trying not to sound like an idiot. I failed miserably. I sounded like a moron.

I waited for Aerith to laugh at me. "You . . . can stop time?" Aerith asked, eyes wide as she slowly nodded her head. Yep, she thought I was insane.

"Look at that," I said, pointing to a red bottle that sat in a cup holder next to a man reading a newspaper. "Now look back at me."

I let Aerith get a good look at me before shifting. I quickly grabbed the water bottle, sat back down, and shifted back.

Aerith continued to stare at me as if nothing happened, which to her, nothing did, but then she jumped. I couldn't help but smirk, feeling a little cocky. "How did you get that?" she asked, close to shrieking.

I placed my hand over her mouth. Luckily, this time she didn't freak out at my touch. I told her to quiet down. "Don't go alerting everyone!" I hissed.

"Sorry," she mumbled, turning bright red.

I shifted quickly and put the water bottle back without warning Aerith this time, and then I sighed when I resumed time, running a hand through my hair.

"Why are you going to Midgar?" she asked, completely oblivious to what I just did.

I rubbed my eyes, quickly getting exhausted. I couldn't help but think that shifting wore me out. "It seems like an easy place to lose yourself in.

"I'm running away from home." Anticipating her next question, I added, "I just found out about my power. My dad was about to beat me, and it just kinda . . . happened."

I felt her hand touch my arm. "I'm sorry," she said.

"Don't be. I'm glad to finally be free from that son of a bitch."

"Going to start a new life?"

"That's the plan." That reminded me . . . "Have you seen a grey duffel bag at all?" I asked.

Aerith shook her head. I slid off my seat to check if it was there, trying not to freak out. It wasn't. I began cursing under my breath as I frantically searched around for it. Then I realized I had left it in the bathroom at the bus station.

"Did you have anything important in it?"

I quickly ran through a checklist of the contents of the duffel bag. Just some clothes and a few books; those would be easy enough to replace. And then I had the picture of my mom and me. Someone would be sure to recognize me from that picture; I mean, I hadn't changed much looks-wise throughout my entire life. Not to mention I had the same blonde hair when I was little.

"A picture of my mom and me. The police would be able to track it back to my dad." I thought of Tifa.

"Do you have a cell phone I could borrow?" I asked.

Aerith nodded before digging into her small pink purse. Her hand emerged seconds later with a pink phone that matched both her purse and her sundress. Cute. She handed it to me.

I felt around my pocket for crinkled receipt with Tifa's number on it. When I found it, I dialed, and sat anxiously, waiting for her to pick up.

"Hello?" she asked when she answered.

"Tifa!" I almost shouted. I released a breath I didn't realize I was holding.

"Cloud?" She recognized my voice. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Just sitting on the bus. Are you still at the station?" I crossed my fingers, hoping she'd say yes.

"Yes, my shift ends in five minutes, why? And I didn't see you board the bus, I was watching."

I avoided her comment. Telling once person was one too many already. "When your shift ends, can you go into the men's restroom and pick up a grey duffel bag? It's mine. Do not give it to my dad. Keep it. Hopefully I'll be able to pick it up sometime."

"How'd you manage to forget it?"

"I . . . got distracted." Understatement of the year. "And when you go to get it . . . be careful."

"Um . . . okay." I could tell I was freaking her out a little.

"Thanks." I was about to hang up when she asked a question that made my heart skip a beat (yep, still a hormonal teenage boy).

"Will I ever talk to you again?"

" . . . I'll call you when I get to Midgar."

" . . . okay." She sounded uncertain but accepted my answer. We hung up silently.

I turned to Aerith to return the phone only to find that she had dozed off. She must have been exhausted.

I decided to get some shut-eye too.

Next stop: Midgar.

**--**

**I know this chapter is a little short, but it was a good place to stop so I did.**

**Yes, it's odd that Aerith is staying with Cloud and willing to travel with him, but she's doing that for a reason that only I know about :D **

**Um, I think that's it . . . next chapter will be up on Sunday!**

**-Extra LIves  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you guys who reviewed, I really appreciate it! **

**This chapter was fun to write, because my favorite character in FFVII is introduced.**

**Lemme know what you think (in reviews :D). Did I capture his essence correctly? Does he act natural? He (the new character) is going to be a **_**huge**_** part of the story, so I wanna make sure he's acting like he should.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Finaly Fantasy VII**

–

I was going to rob a bank.

I know I'm skipping about a two week period, but nothing significant happened in those weeks, which flew by despite me stopping time anytime Aerith and I were traveling. Aerith and I spent that time staying in some mediocre hotel up above the plate, sight-seeing, and bonding, if you can call it that.

Neither of us had shared much about our personal lives, but there was sort of this mutual understanding that we were just "Cloud" and "Aerith" and that was how it was going to be. I had a lot of fun with her and I liked her just fine, but I still didn't _trust _her. I wasn't sure why, there was just some nagging thought in the back of my head.

She was an intellectual; I had to admit, I was surprised. I had expected her to be some ditzy girl who was really nice and pretty but didn't have too much going on between the ears. Boy was I wrong.

Anyway, after those two weeks, I began to run low on cash. Despite Aerith's protests, I had refused to allow her to pay for anything. It was my fault she was in Midgar, and I was going to make sure she didn't suffer at all because of my acting-without-thinking.

I tried getting a job, I really did, but everywhere I went they requested a driver's license. Oh, you don't have a driver's license? We can get you one, what's your social security number? Oh, you don't have a social security number? We can get you one, bring us your birth certificate. It was a never-ending cycle, and if I was going to fly under the radar of any sort of authority (no way in hell was I going back to my father), I couldn't ruffle any feathers.

Which led to me coming up with the genius idea of robbing a bank. It's ironic, really – I needed to stay hidden from the authorities , and I was about to commit a horrible crime.

I tried to justified it, thought it wasn't doing much good to help my conscience. I told myself I wasn't going to do any harm, I wasn't even bringing any sort of weapon, wasn't going to incite panic at all. Besides, I was stealing from the Shinra National Bank; the bank of the biggest corporation in the world. They wouldn't miss a few bucks, would they? And I've read the news. They deserved it.

So there I was, dressed in the same outfit I came in plus a black hoodie that I had bought two days after arriving in the big city, standing around at the bank trying to look inconspicuous. I'm pretty sure I was failing miserably, but I wasn't the most suspicious guy there.

No, there was a guy standing in the corner with a black sweatshirt, like mine but bigger, hood pulled over his head, and his hands were jammed into his pockets, slouching like there was a huge weight on his shoulders. I eyed him carefully as I watched the giant vault door – Shinra was always big on style, liking to flaunt their money – waiting for it to open.

The plan was simple: the vault door would open at some point when someone would make a withdrawal, and I would stop time and waltz in, take some cash, and leave, only resuming time once I was safe in my apartment.

The hooded guy added a variable into the equation; I was watching him also to make sure he didn't pull out a gun and try to rob the place. If he did, I was confident in my abilities enough by then (remember, I shifted whenever Aerith and I were traveling – the slums could get pretty dangerous at night), that I could shift and take the gun away from him before he could do any real harm. I just hoped he wasn't twitchy and pulled the trigger when my focus was on the vault door him.

After what seemed like forever, though I'm sure it was really only a couple minutes, a worker stepped over to the vault door and began to turn the handle, slowly cranking the giant metal door open. I stole one last glance at the hooded guy before I started my plan, but I froze in place when I saw him staring right at me. He had piercing violet eyes, and in those eyes I could see a suspicion. It looked like . . . he thought _I _was going to rob the place. I almost laughed out loud, but stopped myself. Instead, I quickly looked away, and shifted.

The door was barely ajar, but it was open enough that I could slip through it. I walked carefully through the line of people, making sure I didn't bump into any of them, when I felt a strong hand grab my wrist. I screamed. I'll admit it, I screamed like a little girl. I was scared shitless. I was sure time was stopped, and I was positive no one was touching me when I shifted.

"Ho-lee . . . shit," the owner of the hand spoke. His voice was surprisingly . . . boyish. Not boyish as in immature or high-pitched, but boyish as in the speaker wasn't quite old enough to be jaded with the world like everyone else in the bank seemed to be. Yea, I didn't much care for adults.

"You can stop time too?" We both asked at the same time. There was a pregnant pause following the question; neither of us knew how to answer. I turned around, slowly pulling my hand away, and the grasp loosened.

I came face-to-face with the hooded guy, his violet eyes staring right my blue ones. His hood was down now, and soft midnight spikes cascaded down his neck, apparently slicked back, though without gel. A lone spike fell forward, creating an arch over his left eye.

That was the first time I got a good look at Zack Fair, the man who would become the greatest friend in my life.

It's hard to describe Zack. He was intelligent, one of the smartest people I've ever met, humorous, he could make anyone crack a smile, and nice – one time he stopped time just to help an old lady across the street. Luckily she was too senile to realize no one around her was moving.

The easiest way to describe Zack is to tell you to imagine charisma: that intangible quality about someone that just makes them likable, makes you want to follow him. Now take charisma, and build a human out of it. You've got Zack in a nutshell.

Zack broke the silence first, essentially repeating the question he just asked. "You're a shifter?"

"A what?" I asked. Yep, Zack was the one who introduced me to the term "shifting."

"You can stop time," he explained. I looked around to make sure time was indeed stopped. It was. Zack and I were the only ones who were moving at all. I nodded. He ran a hand through his raven hair – that was one of his trademark habits. "And you're going to rob this bank for money?"

I nodded again, dumbstruck. Zack turned away from me and walked over to an empty bench in the corner of the lobby and sat down. I was shocked. He didn't know me at all, and he was willing to turn his back to me. Dumbfounded, I followed and sat down next to him. "Explain to me," he said, "how you were going to steal the money."

He didn't sound like he was accusing me of a crime or like he was going to turn me in, so I went ahead and explained my whole plan. It was weird . . . I told him this whole plan after speaking to him for thirty seconds, and Aerith was still completely unaware of what I was doing.

"Idiot," Zack muttered after I finished.

"Excuse me?" I turned to him, a frown appearing on my face. I was pretty proud of my idea, it wasn't at all idiotic, if I did say so myself.

Zack quickly proved me wrong. "Listen, I first robbed this bank two years ago. Now _I _had the perfect plan. Yours was flawed in way too many ways. First of all, It's way easier to wait outside of the bank and do a little window-shopping. I was in here because I heard of a bank robbery going to happen, that's why I was watching you, you looked suspicious.

"Second, you can't just resume time after getting to your apartment, hotel, house, wherever you're staying. You hafta be paranoid; there _are _people watching you. If you shifted back at your place, someone would be bound to notice your sudden disappearance," he gestured at my hair, "especially with that chocobo ass you call a hairdo.

"What ya need to do is shift once the vault opens, then slip inside and take the money, then go back your place to hide it, and go back to the bank, in the _exact _position you were at before you stopped. That way, no one has _any _idea whatsover who took the money, and no one would give two shits about you. Capiche?"

He stared at me for a moment, waiting for a response. I looked at him, eyes wide, still trying to take everything in. I guess I didn't reply fast enough, because he continued. "Come on, I'll show you my place."

Without another word he grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the bank – I still didn't have any money – and out into the street. "I didn't get any money," I tried to say, but Zack brushed me off.

"I've got plenty in my apartment," he assured me. Was this guy just going to give me the money he stole? I swear . . . between him and Aerith I had met a couple weird people on my short trip.

"How old are you?" I asked. It was a question that itched at me since hearing him talk.

"Nineteen," he replied without missing a beat. Huh. I guess I couldn't say I was surprised, because I wasn't. But I was at the same time. The way he carried himself, and the way he was built, he looked at least mid-twenties. But his eyes _did_ make him look a lot younger, and his personality was that of still a teen.

Zack was weird. He could be incredibly immature at times, but at others he acted wise beyond his years.

We stopped in front of a fancy building that I could only guess was an apartment complex. Zack dug into his back pocket and pulled a wallet out. From where I was standing, it looked fat. Like, fatter than the richie-riches you see when you're in a fancy restaurant. When he opened it, I noticed he didn't have a credit card, and it was full of cash. Makes sense. I wonder if he had the same issue I did, not being able to give up his identity. He pulled out a keycard and waved it in front of a small black box next to the door. There was a beep and a green light flashed.

I followed him through the lobby and into the elevator and watched him press a button – we were going to the top floor. This is what I mean when I say Zack is immature. He _has _to go out and buy the swankiest penthouse on the top floor. Subtlety wasn't really his strong suit. At least, subtlety didn't come naturally to him.

The ride up was silent; Zack didn't say a word. To be honest, it was kinda freaking me out. He was so talkative and animated before, but now he looked as stiff as a business man.

Eventually the elevator stopped and the doors opened to a long hallway with a single doorway that obviously led to his apartment.

He walked briskly, and I had to almost jog to catch up. He was a good head taller than me, and his strides were much longer.

When we got to the end he turned around towards me and extended his hands upward, as if greeting an audience.

"Welcome to my humble abode," he said, spinning around and flashing a grin before kicking open the door.

–

**Yep, it's Zack.**

**I was originally going to make this chapter 5, and add a filler chapter where Aerith and Cloud explored, but it was going to be fluff and I didn't think people would like to much.**

**Hopefully this was more exciting!**

**Review?**

**-Extra Lives**


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